Photo: Twitter/@TurnbullMalcolm
New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrived in Jakarta today to meet with President Joko Widodo. It is hoped that Turnbull can help heal Ozzie-Indonesia relations, which were seriously injured under the administration of his predecessor, Tony Abbott.
Turnbull certainly received a warm welcome when he went with our president to Pasar Tanah Abang (which seems to be one our president’s favorite places to go blusukan with foreign guests – remember Mark Zuckerberg’s trip to the market?) this afternoon.
When they arrived, the pair was cheered by a huge crowd that had been waiting for them at the perpetually macet market. Most of the cheers were directed at our president, with Kompas reporting shouts of “Halo Pak Jokowi!” rising up from the crowd.
But there were also no reports of boos directed towards Turnbull’s way. We’re assuming Mr. Abbott would’ve gotten quite a different reaction.
If he hadn’t yet, the new PM from the Land Down Under surely won the crowd’s affection by performing the traditional Indonesian ritual of taking a selfie with your friend while shopping.
Here’s to a brighter, more bromantic future between Indonesia and Australia!
